Auckland CBD stabbing: Distraught Invercargill woman, alleged male accomplice appear in court charged with murdering pensioner

A man and a woman jointly charged with murdering a 70-year-old at an Auckland apartment complex have appeared in court.

The 35-year-old man is listed on court documents as living at the same Upper Queen St property that became a crime scene on Wednesday afternoon after the alleged stabbing.

A woman appears via audio-visual link in the Auckland District Court on August 24 charged with the murder of a pensioner in an Upper Queen Street apartment the day before. Photo / George Block

The 26-year-old woman, jointly charged with murdering the 70-year-old man, is listed on the court documents as living in Invercargill.

She was the first to appear in the Auckland District Court on Thursday morning before Judge Debra Bell, via audio visual link from custody. The woman was crying and in a state of clear distress.

”I just need a minute to prepare myself, I am sorry,” she told the Judge through sobs.

Police outside an apartment building on Upper Queen St where a man was found with serious injuries. He later died in hospital. Photo / Raphael Franks

Her lawyer Philip Hamlin, acting for Lester Cordwell, sought and was granted interim name suppression, citing her health and the risk she could be endangered by having her name published.

The woman thanked Judge Bell when the order was granted on an interim basis. She did not enter a plea and Hamlin did not seek bail.

Judge Bell remanded the woman in custody until her next appearance in the Auckland High Court on September 13. A report on her fitness will be prepared by forensic mental health services.

The man jointly charged with murder was calmer during his appearance, also via audio-visual link from prison. Photo / George Block

The 35-year-old man also appeared from prison via audio-visual link, wearing a prison-issued white boiler suit. The man did not enter a plea.

He was also granted interim name suppression and remanded in custody to the same date as his co-accused.